Steverson gets postseason awards
Cleveland High School junior Daniel Steverson (seen here) had company from a couple Sandia Matadors on this layup in The Pit in the Storm’s Class 5A quarterfinal loss to Sandia earlier this month. Steverson got some consolation last week, when he was named to the Class 5A All-State first team, and later he was the lone city player named to the All-Metro squad, as a first-teamer. Also on the prestigious All-S
tate first team are Gatorade Player of the Year Kenyon Aguino (Volcano Vista), Jonah Lopez (Rio Grande), Jalin Holland (Los Lunas) and former Storm quarterback and cager Elijah Brody (Wrest Mesa).
Get pumped; they’ll be
The New Mexico Activities Association’s state powerlifting championships are back at Rio Rancho High School this weekend.
Boys, in classes A-3A, and girls in all classes have their event Friday in the RAC. The doors open at noon, with the bars loaded and the competition beginning at 1.
The Class 4A and Class 5A boys’ competition is on Saturday, when the doors open at 9 a.m. and competition starts at 10.
The Rams are the two-time defending powerlifting champs.
Gladiators beat defending IFL champs; home Saturday
The Duke City Gladiators kick off their first home game of the 2023 season after a 43-35 victory over the defending champion Northern Arizona Wranglers in Prescott Valley on Saturday.
Duke City scored three straight touchdowns in the first quarter, taking a 20-2 lead as the second quarter began.
After trading TDs, just before halftime, Duke City opted to kick a long field goal; it was blocked by defensive lineman Tramond Lofton and recovered in the end zone for the touchdown, leaving Duke City with a 27-21 lead at intermission.
The Wranglers regained the lead to start the second half, then recovered an onside kick, but were unable to capitalize with a score.
Northern Arizona opened the fourth quarter with a 28-27 lead, and the contest was tied at 35 with just 58 seconds left in the game.
The Wranglers failed to recover their onside kick attempt, and after the ball hit the wall at the 9-yard line, the Gladiators scored quickly, only to have the point-after blocked.
Duke City kicker Ernesto Lacayo nailed the “deuce” on the ensuing kickoff, making it 43-35, and the Wranglers fell short in their comeback attempt, losing at home for the first time since 2021.
The Frisco Fighters (2-0) visit the Rio Rancho Events Center Saturday at 6 p.m.
The latest on the lanes
There were nearly a thousand three-game sets bowled during the N.M. Women’s State Championships, which concluded a three-weekend run at Tenpins & More March 19.
Arguably, none was better than those bowled by the scratch doubles combination of former touring professional Adrienne Hare, the daughter of Mike Miller, and former Rio Rancho High School bowling team anchor Aileen Linares.
Hare practiced a few days prior, and it showed as she complied a clean 239, 269 and 220 for a 728 series.
Linares, who bowls in at least three leagues a week, as well as weekend regional and local tournaments, was even better, throwing 246, 279 and 245 for a 770 set, and a doubles team tally of 1,498, more than 100 pins higher than second place.
* Shane Muller, one of Storm’s winning state team members is the first entrant signed for next month’s New Mexico qualifier for a berth in to the 26th annual Teen Masters Nationals scheduled for Detroit’s 94-lane iconic Thunderbird Lanes in July.
The local tournament at Tenpins & More on April 23 could attract more than 30 boys and girls to attempt to make it to Michigan.
Cleveland girls finish second
The CHS girls’ track & field team competed in a delayed meet over spring break,” their coach, Carla Chavez, reported.
“Our meet was postponed due to the weather on the 17th. We attended the Buddy Robertson Invitational Red Division Meet on the 24th,” Chavez said. “We came in second place with 63 points; La Cueva won the meet with 76 points.”
Despite horrible weather, she said, “Jaylee Gandert won the Javelin, bettering her state-qualifying mark to 124 feet, 7 inches. Our medley relay team (Affinity Archuleta, Azeleah Mazon, Haley White and Ximena Mendoza) took first; the relay team of Deja Smith, Mazon, Arianna Barreras and Morgan James came in second in the 400- and 800-meter relays.
“Overall, it was a great effort by all of our girls.”
Learn CPR, save a life
Project Heart Start, along with Cumulus Radio, the Albuquerque Journal, KOAT-TV and UNM Athletics, will host a free CPR training event at University Stadium on Saturday, April 15.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon, with three sessions: 9-10, 10-11 and 11-noon.
Knowing and being trained in CPR can be the difference of life and death. This past NFL season, Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin’s life was saved due to CPR, which was given on the field during a Monday Night Football game.
Isotopes tickets are on sale
Individual game tickets for the 2023 Albuquerque Isotopes’ season are on sale, and fans can purchase tickets to any of the 75 home games, including promotional nights, at abqisotopes.com, ticketmaster.com or the Isotopes box office. For a full list of the Isotopes 2023 season promotional schedule, visit abqisotopes.com.
The home opener is Tuesday, April 4, at 6:35 p.m. against the Salt Lake City Bees. It starts a six-game homestand that goes through Sunday, April 9. The Isotopes are back for another six-game homestand on April 18, against the Oklahoma City Dodgers.
MAC, but no cheese
Desert Sol Inline & Hockey presents the fourth annual MAC Cup Adult Ice Hockey Tournament July 7 at the McDermott Athletic Center (The MAC).
The tournament will feature three divisions of four teams each: B Division and C Division, and for the first time, a Women’s Division.
Team fees are $950. Email [email protected] to submit your team interest/name and get your captain’s packet with all the information to register. More details to come.
Mendoza back in the ring on Showtime
Brian “La Bala” Mendoza fights Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora on April 8 in the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Cal., on Saturday, April 8.
The super-welterweight bout will be aired on Showtime.
Mendoza, 29 and a 2012 graduate of Cleveland High who now lives and trains in Las Vegas, Nev., takes a ring record of 21-2, with 15 knockouts, into this fight.
His last three fights have taken place in Minnesota.
Fundora is 20-0-1, with no knockouts. His nickname comes from his height: 6-5½.
Summer youth camps back in RR
Rio Rancho High School boys’ basketball coach Wally Salata is already looking forward to his 14 annual Rio Rancho Rams basketball summer youth camps, coming up in late May and June.
Each camp stresses the fundamentals of the game and is for boys and girls going into kindergarten through ninth grade in August.
Each session runs from 9 a.m. to noon each day and costs $125 in advance, $150 for walk-ups.
The sessions are set for May 30-June 2; June 19-23; and June 26-30.
Campers will learn the basic skills and fundamentals needed, with 5-on-5 action every day, Campers will receive a camp T-shirt and a basketball.
To register, visit rioranchocamps.net.
For additional information, contact Salata at [email protected].
